Deadly cost of South Sudan’s delayed security reforms

The document examines the failure of South Sudan to unify its armed groups into a single national force, noting that a militarised political culture and disputes within the opposition party—specifically involving Vice President Riek Machar—have stalled security sector reforms. It highlights that the mechanisms established under the 2018 Revitalised Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) remain non-functional three years later, with troops deserting cantonment camps due to poor conditions. The author concludes that peace depends on the political commitment of leaders to the R-ARCSS and the full operationalization of the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission and Area Joint Military Ceasefire Committees.

• South Sudan has failed to unify its armed groups into a single national security force because a militarised political culture allows political tensions to escalate into armed conflict, with armed forces acting as instruments for individual leaders rather than the state.
• The security mechanisms established under the 2018 Revitalised Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS)—including the Joint Transitional Security Committee, the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission, and Area Joint Military Ceasefire Committees—are not fully functional three years after they were supposed to be established.
• The process of creating the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces is hindered by missed deadlines and the desertion of troops from cantonment camps due to food shortages and poor living conditions.
• Internal conflict within the opposition party, including an attempted ouster of Vice President Riek Machar and disputes over army command unification ratios, further disrupts the reform process and risks violent repercussions.

APA

Mutangadura, C. (2021). Deadly cost of South Sudan’s delayed security reforms. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/deadly-cost-of-south-sudans-delayed-security-reforms

Chicago

Mutangadura, Chido. Deadly cost of South Sudan’s delayed security reforms. Institute for Security Studies, 2021. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/deadly-cost-of-south-sudans-delayed-security-reforms.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mutangadura |first1=Chido |title=Deadly cost of South Sudan’s delayed security reforms |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=15 September 2021 |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/deadly-cost-of-south-sudans-delayed-security-reforms |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mutangadura2021deadly, author = {Mutangadura, Chido}, title = {{Deadly cost of South Sudan’s delayed security reforms}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/deadly-cost-of-south-sudans-delayed-security-reforms}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }